Reaping Crimson
by FishtheMighty
Summary: After the Egyptian gods living among the humans have been discovered, they now live in fear of having their immortal organs harvested for medical purposes. Thoth, after losing his wife, has to travel the country with Khonsu and a young Aztec goddess to get the Feather of Truth back, and avoid getting captured. Resubmitted and is now more shiny and less tl;dr
1. Rain and Neon

nearly knocked us off our feet. My fingers were numb and sealed around the cold metal handle of the umbrella that wasn't helping us that much; my other arm was wrapped around my wife, Ma'at. A single plastic grocery bag soaking with rain hung from my elbow. Even though it was only April, our breath was still visible and we continued to be pelted with rain; clearly this was not the same type of rain Gene Kelly was singing about. The neon lights of the many shops reflected off the sidewalks making it look almost like a watercolour painting. My wife's black and white walking stick bumped awkwardly against the concrete and I tried to guide her safely back home. The rain splattered my glasses making it difficult to see and I must admit that it felt weird showing my eyes in public, but I had to watch over my wife. The cold temperature combined with the bitterness of the rain and the wind made my only concern wanting to get home. I looked down at Ma'at. Her unseeing eyes blinked to get the rain out and her thick black hair was plastered against her cheeks.

Eventually we reached the concrete stairs leading up to our apartment. I cautiously lead Ma'at up the steps, her walking stick clanging against the metal railing. Our apartment was the furthest one from the stairs so we walked quietly to avoid waking our neighbors up, actually as far as they were concerned, we didn't even exist. I let go of Ma'at and reached into the pocket of my heavy, black raincoat to search for the key. Ma'at's hand was still wrapped tightly around her walking stick, but her other hand clasped the metal railing of the balcony. At long last, I found the key and unlocked the door. I held the door open for Ma'at who eventually found her way in with the aid of her cane.

The room was very dark when I finally shut and locked the door, but we didn't bother to turn any of the lights on; it was too much of a risk. I placed the umbrella against the door and dropped the grocery bag on the kitchen table. The only source of light came from the moonlight and the street lamps seeping through the closed curtains, but I closed them even tighter, just in case. Ma'at unbuttoned her raincoat and I helped her ease it off of her shoulders and hung it on one of the hooks by the door. I did the same thing with my own coat and I realized how cold it was in the house for once. Ma'at squeezed the last bit of water from her hair and I placed my hand on her shoulder gingerly. She smiled and I kissed her lightly on the lips, my hands tangling in her black hair and her own slender fingers making their way to the back of my neck as the kiss deepened. Even with all the power, being a deity was often a long and tedious existence of isolation, but I was grateful that I had my wife with me. I cherished every second I had with her, knowing it could go away in an instant. As far as deities go, Ma'at is the most fragile. Being directly linked to the principle of the same name, Ma'at can find herself wasting away very easily if the balance of the universe is thrown off even just by a little bit.

Ma'at tossed her hair behind her shoulder and she wrapped her arms around mine and I lead her to the bedroom. The bedroom was just as dark as the kitchen. I decided that the risk of having the lights on was too large, but some light did come through the thin curtains. I reached into the dresser drawer and retrieved a simple, cotton nightgown and handed it to Ma'at. She placed the garment on the bed and began to fumble with the buttons on her sweater. I knew it must have been difficult to operate buttons while she couldn't see, but I had a feeling that something else was bothering her.

"What's wrong?" I took off my own shirt and pulled a plain pajama top over my neck.

Ma'at carelessly tossed her sweater to the floor and sighed,

"They found Meret." her voice was low and shaky, like a combination of sadness and anxiety.

"What?" I pushed my glasses further onto my nose. "Why Meret?"

Ma'at shrugged. "I guess she wasn't being careful enough. She was never the quietest goddess, you know." Ma'at slipped her head through the nightgown. "Unless we want to end up like her, we probably have to be more careful."

This was not what I wanted living amongst the mortals to be like, but ever since us deities have been discovered, every day has been an uphill battle. When we were discovered, I expected one out of two reactions. One was the people become afraid of us. The deities will become outcasts and treated like violent criminals. I know that it's in human nature to fear what is not understood, but I could not live like that. My second theory was probably the least likely. The people would find living amongst deities to be really handy, and we all get along, there are rainbows everywhere, it would just be wonderful. But what really did happen, I did not see coming.

The people saw our immortality as an opportunity. Why have a mortal heart or a stomach that can easily break down, when you could get an immortal heart or stomach transplanted into you? The idea of taking organs from deities was classified as "not completely immoral" because we don't really die, at least not in the way humans imagine it. So for about a month or so, we've all been at risk for being harvested for our organs or tissues. Part of me felt guilty for trying to hide, since I knew that it was going to a good cause, but I needed to be there for Ma'at, and I had no idea how long it would take me to reform.

Ma'at looked down at the ground, the hem of her nightgown twisting in her hands and I cupped her face in my hand and kissed her on the cheek.

"We're going to be fine, Ma'at. Don't worry about it."

Ma'at let go of her nightgown and nodded, but her cloudy brown eyes were still set on the scratched up wood floor. Feeling her way around the room, she finally eased herself under the covers and closed her eyes. She looked so calm, so peaceful, but the sense of fear and doubt still present on her features.

I hopped into bed too and placed my hand on the soft skin of Ma'at's arm and buried my face in her black hair. Ma'at shifted a bit and I closed my eyes. However, my sleep was interrupted when Ma'at sat up abruptly, her wide eyes visible even in the dark room. Despite all of my preaching about trying to be discreet, my hand went to the lamp on the bedside table and turned it on, the light flickering at first from the lack of use.

"Is everything okay?" I placed my hand on my wife's shaking back.

"I left my purse at the grocery store." she moved out from under my touch and pushed herself off of the bed. I slumped back against my pillow and raised an eyebrow,

"That's it? We can get it in the morning." I was about to reach for the lamp to turn it off, but Ma'at stopped me.

"No. You don't understand!" she sat back down and clasped her hands in her lap. "I left the feather in my purse."

There was an awkward silence. The only sound came from the heater kicking in, the howling wind, and the distant sound of a dog barking. I couldn't see properly without my glasses, but the look of fear and regret on Ma'at's face was obvious.

"The feather...the Feather of Truth?" Of course I knew what she was talking about, but I needed to make sure I wasn't jumping to conclusions. Much to my dismay, Ma'at nodded.

"This could throw off the entire order of the universe!" Ma'at buried her face in her hands and I placed my hand on her shoulder. I gently rubbed her skin and tried to fight off the feeling of anger that was building up inside me. Could I really get mad at my wife for something like this? Well it's my duty to keep the universe in balance, and losing what is arguably the most important part of the natural order of existence warrants a bit of agitation.

"Do you think they still have it?" Keep calm, keep calm.

Ma'at shrugged. "I have no idea."

I grabbed my glasses from the bedside table. "You should have been more careful."

Ma'at's hand curled into a fist,

"Do you think I _wanted_ to lose it?" she sat up, steadying herself by placing one hand on the dresser. "I care just as much about the feather as you do."

"Well it's _your_ goddamned duty to look after it, so you should have been more alert!"

I couldn't tell if what I was feeling was genuine anger, or just fear from losing the feather. Either way, Ma'at clearly had enough. Slipping the nightgown over her head, she felt around the room for the clothes she was wearing earlier today.

"I'm going to go get it back. Don't wait up for me." she picked up her walking stick and left the bedroom, her cane hitting the walls and the floor as she did so.

I felt my heart drop into my stomach. What was I thinking? It wasn't her fault that she lost it! Okay, maybe it was her fault, but who was I to talk to her like that? I hopped off the bed and hastily got dressed and ran out of the bedroom and grabbed my raincoat; I was in too much of a hurry to grab the umbrella.

Ma'at was standing on the metal balcony, slowly easing her walking stick onto the steps. She had her raincoat on, but she didn't bother to button it. I shivered, it was even colder than it was before, and the rain was coming down harder. Even though she couldn't see me, Ma'at noticed my presence and backed away from the stairs.

"Yeah?" her tone was clearly impatient and filled with annoyance. "I'm going to get the feather back. You know, to keep the universe in check?"

I bowed my head down. "I don't want you to go alone."

"What? You don't think I _can_ go alone?" Ma'at crossed her arms and tossed her hair behind her shoulders.

I shoved my fists into my coat pockets. "Ma'at, you're blind!"

Ma'at turned around harshly on her heel and pointed a finger at me (or rather, at the wall that was next to me).

"Well thank you, god of wisdom, any other insights you would like to share?"

"Lovely idea. Let's just shout out what we are to the entire world!" I hated fighting with Ma'at; actually, I hated fighting with anyone. But moments like these made that very difficult to follow. But the thing that made this even worse was the obvious look of hurt on Ma'at's face. She leaned against her cane, and turned back towards the stairs.

"I'm going now."

I couldn't do this. I couldn't just let her leave all by herself. Before she could head down the stairs, I gently placed my hand on her arm. Ma'at stiffened, obviously not knowing how to react.

"It's not that I don't trust you, Ma'at. I just don't want you to get hurt and," I tightened my grasp on her arm slightly, "I already lost you too many times."

Ma'at slid her foot against the balcony and held her head down. It was hard to tell what her emotion was. Her fingers twisted around the walking stick and she starred off into the distance. I let go of her shoulder and pushed some of her hair behind her ear. Still avoiding my gaze, she nodded and slowly moved down the stairs. I interpreted her actions as a sign for me to follow her, so I did.

The wind and the rain were even more brutal than last time and I suddenly regretted not grabbing the umbrella. I wrapped my arm around Ma'at's shoulder, but she didn't seem to have much of a reaction. For a blind woman, she's very good at avoiding eye contact. My arm slid off of her shoulder and found my wife's hand instead. Her skin was cold and stiff like a corpse's, but it slowly began to warm up. I squinted, trying to see through the darkness and the rain, even the glowing of the neon signs and the street lights weren't helping me.

"We should get a taxi next time."

Ma'at didn't reply. She was still facing away from me and her stiff hand was unmoving in my grasp. Unable to take it anymore, I came to a halt. Ma'at stumbled a bit and faced my with a confused expression. I slipped my hand out of hers and placed my hands on her shoulders.

"Ma'at, I don't want to make you angry." I rested my forehead against hers. "Our marriage means too much to me, but the feather is really important and I'm sorry of I overreacted." I closed my eyes, but I hoped that she understood what I was trying to say. I felt anxious, in a hurry to go get the feather back, but I waited for her expression to change.

She placed her hand on my cheek but let it fall, leaving a slight trail of warmth on my face. Her head was still down, but it looked more like she was trying to hide her emotions rather than avoid me.

"It's just that I'm tired of being treated like some delicate little flower." she almost spat the words; her hands were stuffed into her pockets. "I understand that I'm holding up the balance of the universe. I understand that it's very risky for me to make any sort of mistake. I understand that I can't and never will be able to see when I'm in a human form. But I'm not as fragile as you think I am."

I grabbed her hands, causing the walking stick to fall to the ground, and for the first time in quite a while, I found myself speechless. At this point, I knew that nothing I could say could cheer her up. I know I didn't view her as a delicate being, but maybe my subconscious did. Aside from being her husband, I was also always a loyal servant to the principle and theory of Ma'at even before I ended up being married to the goddess representing the concept. I was only doing my duties, but which one was better? Risking the universe being thrown off track of forcing my wife to live in a smothering, unhappy marriage?

I brushed her black hair out of her face and kissed her on the forehead but Ma'at turned away and got down to her knees and began feeling around for her cane. Before I could crouch down to help her, she found it and got right back to her feet. She held out her hand like a person asking for money.

"It's raining harder." She blinked some of the rain out of her eyes. I stuffed my hands into my coat pockets and stared at the reflective sidewalk, my eyes clouding up with what I hoped was rain. Was our love becoming more one-sided? Was Ma'at just staying with me for support all of these years? No. I could tell she still cared about me, but I wondered if that was just hopeful optimism. But the gleam in her eyes whenever we were together was still there, I could see it.

With one last attempt at making up to her, I gently wrapped my arm around her waist. She stiffened, but soon began to relax and she began to walk with me without the aid of her cane. Despite this, I could still sense the omnipresent anxiety and tension omitting from her.

...

The grocery store's automatic door opened for us and our wet shoes squeaked against the linoleum floor and we were greeted with the very distinct scent of plastic mixed with produce and flowers that's usually found in grocery stores. I suddenly felt very nervous and self-conscious about my eyes so I tried to avert my gaze from anyone in the building, hoping they wouldn't notice the shifting of the colours; a dead giveaway that I wasn't human. Fortunately, there weren't many people in the store considering that it was late at night, but you couldn't be too careful.

My eyes watching our footsteps, I led Ma'at to one of the cashiers. I adjusted my glasses and looked at some of the magazines set neatly on the wire rack by the cash-register.

"May I help you?" he looked to be about 50 and had some type of distinct American accent, but I couldn't tell which. Even through the corner of my eye, I could tell that he was very uninterested in whatever we were about to say. Considering that he's working as a cashier when it's almost ten at night, I don't blame him.

"Um, hi. I left my purse here earlier this evening. So I was just wondering if you had a lost and found or something like that." Ma'at smiled at him, despite that she wasn't even facing him entirely. The cashier sighed and dragged himself to a locked door behind the cash-registers. He unhooked a key from his belt and unlocked and went through the door. He came out a few minutes later holding a cardboard box that his arms had trouble getting all the way around. He grunted a bit and dropped the box on the floor with a loud "thud" causing Ma'at to jump slightly at the sudden sound.

"Thank you, sir." I grabbed Ma'at's wrist and led her over to the box, careful not to make eye contact with the cashier. The cashier returned to his station, not paying much attention to us. Ma'at and I knelt next to the cardboard box and she began to feel through the pile of bags, jackets, and hats that were left in there.

"I can sense its presence!" Ma'at whispered, plunging her hands deeper into the box. I stopped searching for a moment to turn around. The cashier was joined by a few other workers and they all seemed to be watching us. I faced Ma'at again, who still wasn't having much luck finding the purse.

"Ma'at," I kept my voice low so they couldn't hear me. "I think those workers behind us are watching us."

Ma'at stopped searching and raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're not just being paranoid?"

She continued searching and her eyes lit up. Ma'at smiled and retrieved her purse from the box, the purple fabric glowing slightly from containing the feather. I felt a huge weight being lifted off my chest, but then I looked over my shoulder again. The workers were still there, but another man, possibly the owner, joined them and was talking frantically into a phone. Ma'at opened the purse just to make sure that the feather was still inside. Even through the sound of the blood rushing to my ears, I could hear the sounds of car doors slamming outside.

"Ma'at, we have to get out of here." I looked through the glass double doors. The building looked surrounded; there was no way we could leave without making a scene.

Ma'at looked up from the purse. "What are you talking about?"

The doors burst open and a bunch of men ran into the store; they were all carrying briefcases and their faces were covered by some sort of mask. Without thinking, I grabbed Ma'at's wrist and tried to lead her away, but it was too late. We were surrounded. I gently held my wife's hand and closed my eyes, my other hand was curled around my wand inside my coat, but I couldn't find the will to use it. No matter how bad things got, would I ever forgive myself for harming a bunch of innocent humans even if I was just trying to protect myself and my wife?

"What's going on?" Ma'at's voice was trembling and she squeezed my hand tighter.

"It's over. We've been found." I kept my eyes closed until Ma'at slipped her hand out of mine. I turned towards her and she took a few hesitant steps back and she faced me.

"Run."

Part of me knew I had to, but was I really supposed to leave her here? Before I could begin moving my legs, Ma'at raised her arms up and she began to omit a golden light. My eyes widened and my mouth felt dry when I realized what she was doing. For an instant, there was a blinding flash of light before I saw my wife again looking the same way she did thousands of years ago, wearing a long white dress, her long black hair perfectly straight and draping over her shoulders, and a pair of glowing wings made of hieroglyphics sticking out of her back. The people in the room had their attention completely on her and Ma'at didn't move. Instead, she turned to me again and repeated her instructions.

"Run."

Even though I knew I would never forgive myself, I knew this was my only chance. Summoning the strength to my legs, I bolted into the aisles of food, nearly slipping on the smooth floor and crashing into a cardboard cutout of some mascot. I didn't dare to look behind me. Instead I wound my way through the shelves before approaching the automatic doors and I ran through them and I never looked back.

My mind only had one goal and that was to escape. Not even bothering to figure out where I was going and what I was feeling, I ran down the wet sidewalk, the rain still coming down harder than ever. Some of the neon lights were turned off now, but the ones that were still on zoomed past me in a blur; I didn't bother to stop and catch my breath. I nearly ran past my apartment, but I darted up the stairs, unlocked the door after dropping the key a few times and let myself in.

Of course it was still dark inside, but there was light omitting from the bedroom; the light that I had left on earlier this evening. I double locked the door, but I decided that wasn't enough so I pushed a drawer in front of the door. With both my legs and my arms aching, I collapsed on my knees and, for the first time in quite a while, I began to cry. Of course I knew that crying was perfectly normal, I can't remember the last time I cried like this. I slipped my glasses off of and buried my face in my hands. _Why? Why did I leave her like that?_ _I know she told me to run, but was it really right for me to put her life in danger? She's dead because of you, Thoth. You could have helped her but you didn't. You had your wand with you; you could have blasted them to some other part of the country but no. Ma'at will never forgive you for this_.

I struggled to get back to my feet, my legs were shaking and I stumbled to the bedroom with what could only be described as a limp. The cold, dark house suddenly seemed a lot more sad and empty than I ever remembered it being. The more and more I looked around, the more it looked less like a house people lived in and more like a set. A model of a house. The walls were cracked from the nails used to hold up picture frames that Ma'at and I tried to pry out. The rugs were practically threads and most of our belongings were bound to shelves or walls with cobwebs.

The bedroom was the only room in the house that looked like it was lived in, but it also looked the saddest. Ma'at's nightgown was still on the floor where she left it. The bed was unmade and the lamp on the bedside table was still on, but it didn't make the room any less grim. I looked out the window, hoping that Ma'at was outside and alright, but all I saw was a vacant, dark street. I checked multiple times after that. I don't know why I did; I knew she was not coming back. I collapsed on the bed and curled into a ball. My eyes and chest ached; I couldn't stand to look at any of Ma'at's belongings. The feeling of sleepiness washing over me, I took off my coat and shirt, not bothering to get ready for bed properly, and went under the covers and turned off the light.

Despite how tired I felt, I could not get myself to fall asleep. My eyes were still misty with tears and I had difficulty breathing through my nose. I tossed and turned at least a dozen times before I noticed the dent on Ma'at's pillow her head left earlier today. I had a sudden urge to get rid of it, but I decided not to. The bed squeaked when I turned away from her side of the bed and fell into a dreamless sleep that was surprisingly more exhausting than the day's activities.


	2. The Forest Lights

It's never a good sign when the first thing you feel when you wake up is pain. I felt like someone chucked a handful of sand in my eyes and other than that I felt like I had a massive hangover. I turned over to see an empty bed and reality crashed down on me when I realized what happened yesterday wasn't a dream. Ma'at was gone. I found myself laying in bed for who knows how long, staring up at the cracked ceiling, my eyes threatening to spill over again. Finally, I placed my glasses onto my nose and dragged myself out of the bed, my ears ringing and my forehead still throbbing from my headache. I forced myself to walk into the bathroom; the cold tile floor against my bare feet sent sparks up my spine.

The sink squeaked when I turned it on and I splashed some cold water on my face in an attempt to wake myself up, but all it did was make my cold and wet. Sighing, I wiped my face off with a towel and then looked at my reflection in the mirror. The first thing I noticed was the shifting of my eyes. All of the colours, drifting around the pupil like a kaleidoscope; they were obviously not the eyes of a human. I almost became hypnotized by the movement, but I still had the mental willpower to blame myself for the absence of my wife.

_It's all the fault of these eyes! If you didn't have to constantly hide your eyes from mortals, you could have done a better job protecting Ma'at, and this never would have happened! You can't go around with your head down and sunglasses on forever, right?_

I didn't argue with this idea, even though I didn't completely agree with this conclusion that I jumped to. I was still looking in the mirror, though. At this point I was too lazy to move, but I found myself focusing on the blue parts of my eyes. Shifting amongst the green, red, and violet, the blue began to look bigger the more I looked at it. My eyes strained as I focused even more of my attention to the blue and before I knew it, both of my eyes were a brilliant shade of aqua. I blinked but once I did, the blue slowly began to shrink down and soon my eyes were back to their original state.

_Did I just..._

I tried again and the same thing happened. How did I not learn to do this before? This meant I could go out in public again, but unfortunately keeping my eyes the same colour forced me to strain them so I realized I couldn't do it for more than five minutes. But hopefully I could become better with a little practice.

I finally remembered to turn the sink off and I shuddered when I wondered how much my water bill cost now, but I had enough things to worry about now. I walked back into the bedroom, feeling less tired than I did before, and put on a random t-shirt I found in the drawer. I tried my hardest not to look at Ma'at's side of the bed. I couldn't stand to look at it now, of course I didn't want to completely forget about her, but I wouldn't get anything done if I kept dwelling on her disappearance and I needed as little distractions as possible. My plan was stupid, but it could work.

I was going to find out where Ma'at was (how I was going to do that wasn't decided yet), then I was going to force them to let me see her (I didn't know how yet), then we were going to break out of the place (still haven't worked out the details, but I'm working on it), then we were going to run away to some place where they will never find us (I still don't know where. Antarctica maybe?).

I adjusted my glasses and was about to leave the bedroom to grab something from the kitchen when I heard a knock at the door. At the sound of the door, I ran into the kitchen, nearly tripping over my own feet on the way there.

_Is it Ma'at? Is she okay?_

The drawer was still in front of the front door so I pushed it out of the way and looked through the peep hole only to find my heart sinking again. Instead of my wife, two men dressed in some type of uniform stood on the other side of the door. I darted to one of the bookshelves and grabbed my prescription sunglasses, replaced my regular glasses with them, put on my raincoat and slipped my glasses into the pocket, then answered the door.

"May I help you?" _Keep calm, maybe they're just selling something._

The man on the right examined the clip board he was holding.

"Are you Mr. Eldrick Travers?"

My mind went blank for a second and I was about to tell them they had the wrong person, but then I remembered the fake names Ma'at and I used when dealing with paperwork. As far as the city was concerned, my name was Eldrick Travers, a twenty-something-year-old man hoping to get a job in psychology, and Ma'at was Marissa Atonia (okay, we were really not creative with that name), my girlfriend who was thinking about enrolling in law school. Our goal was to seem like the most average, boring young couple living together in the south east, but that didn't really work out for us.

"Yeah, that's me." I rocked back and forth nervously and waited for them to give my some survey or to ask me if I accepted some other god in my life, but they didn't. Instead...

"You were at Food N' Stuff last night at 9:30, right?"

My palms began to sweat. "Y-yeah."

"And you have heard about the law, allowing immortal beings to be used for organ donation reasons?"

_It's not a donation if you're taking it by force!_ "I-uh-yeah."

"Then you know that you're girlfriend, Ms. Atonia, is actually a deity and was found last night."

I bowed my head down, hearing it from a second party made it even worse somehow.

"Yes. I know." I tilted my head back up and stared at the two men in front of me. How could they deliver such news so casually? But then I noticed both of them did have a hint of sadness and sympathy on their faces. "Um...I hope this isn't too much to ask for."

The man on the left, who hasn't spoken much, raised his eyebrow.

"What's that?"

"May I see her again?" I wasn't thinking about escape. I truly just wanted to see my wife one last time. I wanted her to know I was okay, at least before they find me if I wasn't careful enough.

"Actually, that's why we're here." The man on the right took his hat off. "We tried calling you three times this morning, but no one picked up."

_That was probably because I was passed out in a sobbing, nauseates mess_.

"I'm sorry about this. As you can imagine, I was a little distressed from last night's events." As much as I tried to keep my voice steady, it was still shaking.

"Don't worry about it. We understand that you're going through a lot." The man on the right set his clipboard down. "Anyway, our car is parked right outside."

I nodded and looked over their shoulders. Parked in front of the apartment complex was a vaguely police car-looking vehicle. Sure it didn't have sirens, but the basic look of the car did resemble that of vehicles the police or detectives used in movies. The two men stood to the side and I stepped out without bothering to lock the door; I had a feeling that I wouldn't be coming back anyway.

The air was crisp, tingling with the previous rain and unusually cold for April. The moment I stepped outside I suddenly realized I had no idea what time it was. I remember falling asleep roughly around midnight, but I still didn't know how long I was asleep for. The metal steps were slippery from last night's rainstorm and we walked carefully to avoid tripping down them. I knew I was not going to get over what happened last night so easily, but it did concern me that I couldn't do anything without thinking if her; even the simple task of walking down the stairs. These were the same stairs Ma'at and I went up when we first moved in here, they were the same stairs we went down last night when we left to go get the feather, and they were the stairs I ran up when I abandoned her. Now they were the stairs I descended down when I left to see my wife for the very last time.

We stopped and Clipboard Man held the back door of the car open for me, gesturing towards the seat with his free hand.

"Uh, do I have to sit in the back? It's going to look like I was arrested or something."

"Sorry, but we have no room anywhere else in the car. Besides, this isn't even a police car so you should be fine."

I gave a little sigh, and slid into the back of the car. The leather seats were torn at the seams and were cracked in some places, the windows were very filthy, and an orange tree-shaped air freshener hung from the review mirror, making the entire inside of the vehicle smell like a combination of coffee, leather, and peaches. The two men got in the front of the car and I fastened my seatbelt.

"If you don't mind me asking," I raised my hand slightly and they looked at me through the review mirror. "What time is M-I mean-Marissa's, uh, appointment?"

Clipboard Man shifted a little in the passenger seat and found his clipboard at his feet.

"About 2:00 pm."

I paused. "What time is it now?"

He checked his watch. "A little after one."

My mouth felt dry and my heart dropped into my stomach; there was no way I was asleep for more than twelve hours. Besides that, this also meant I had less than an hour to be with Ma'at. I squirmed and resisted the urge to just teleport myself to wherever Ma'at was. Of course this wouldn't work because I have no idea where she is and I would be giving myself away.

The car took off and I tried to distract myself by staring out the beige-stained windows, but the two men wanted to start a conversation with me.

"So do you know which goddess your girlfriend secretly was? Because we know if you want us to tell you."

"Uh…I don't know."

He examined his clipboard. "Her name is Ma'at or something like that."

_Wow he butchered that pronunciation_. "Oh. Thank you."

"No problem. You know, some people I know would be very jealous if they found out you were dating a _goddess_."

_Fascinating_. "Uh huh…"

"Yeah, she's an Egyptian goddess, I think."

"Well my knowledge of Egyptian mythology isn't perfect." The man driving finally spoke up. "But isn't Ma'at married?"

"Wow." Clipboard laughed a bit. "You'd better hope that her husband isn't like Hera or something, or I'd have no idea what would happen to you."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Harrison." The man driving turned to Clipboard with a scolding tone. "I don't think he's in the mood to speak right now. Give him some space."

Harrison sighed. "Okay. Sorry about that, Mr. Travers."

We spent the rest of the car ride in silence; my eyes kept going to the digital clock by the radio, cringing every time it got closer to two. The man driving (who I eventually found out was named David) turned on the radio and that really helped me drown out everything that was going on in my head. I closed my eyes and rested my head against the cold window and lost myself to the quiet tinkering of the piano that played on the radio. Even though I've been asleep for twelve hours, I was completely and utterly exhausted.

When I opened my eyes, the car was pulled into a parking lot; a tall, grey building was looming over us. Normally, that building probably didn't look that grim, but my current circumstances defined it as such. David and Harrison stepped out of the car and I soon followed with my legs wobbling and I grabbed the roof of the car for support. I trailed behind David and Harrison as we walked to the front of the building. For some reason, the sprinklers were on which I found rather odd considering that it was raining hard last night. We stepped carefully to avoid being soaked by the sprinklers and we eventually reached the glass double doors which Harrison opened for us.

The lobby smelled clean, almost like walking into a hotel room for the first time. The stone floor was slick and the area was decorated rather tastefully with well-chosen paintings and potted plants adorning the walls and the tables. And I hated it. Through its beauty, I still remembered that somewhere in this building, my wife was being held and awaiting her death. David and I sat on one of the stiff couches while Harrison left to speak with one of the women at the front desk. David and I didn't speak at all. I just studied the intricate patterns of the rug below my feet, not really paying attention to anything else.

"I got it." Harrison sprinted towards us, still clutching his clipboard in his right hand. "She's in room A738."

David stood up and faced me. "We should lead the way-it's easy to get lost here."

I nodded and followed David and Harrison through the lobby until we approached the elevators. Harrison pressed the "up" button and we all slipped inside, the doors closing behind us with a loud "ding".

David pressed the fourth floor button and we waited, with only the sound of elevator music to entertain us.

"Uh, I have another question." I wrapped my hand around the railing attached to the walls of the elevator and Harrison and David turned towards me. "How did they figure out she was, you know, a goddess?"

"Apparently someone left their purse at the grocery store earlier that evening and the owner found some sort of magical item inside of it." Harrison shrugged. "So he figured that whoever owned the purse must have been a deity of sorts."

I still don't know why I asked that; it didn't offer me any comfort in fact, it just made me feel worse. I didn't respond, but I just looked at my feet and I hoped that the elevator didn't stop for anybody else. I remember hearing that if you pressed down on the "doors closed" button while you rode on an elevator; it wouldn't stop on any of the other floors. I was tempted to try it, but I didn't know how David or Harrison would respond. I knew, however, that if I was alone, I would definitely try it; whatever got me to the floor faster.

The elevator eventually came to a stop and Harrison, David, and I walked through the winding hallways until we reached room 38. There was a thin, rectangular window on the door and through it I could see Ma'at. She was sitting on one of the hospital beds and hugging her knees while staring blankly to the side; I felt my heart skip a beat.

"May I speak to her alone?" my fingers raked against the plastic door; I was practically dying to see my wife one last time.

Harrison smiled. "Of course."

They stepped to the side and I opened the door, closing it behind me when I entered the room. At the sound of the door closing, Ma'at sat up abruptly, fear painted all over her face.

"Who-who's there?" She backed up in her bed until she was pressed up against the blank wall.

"Ma'at. It's me." I moved closer to her with hesitant steps like I was walking towards a dangerous animal or something. At the sound of my voice, Ma'at's eyes widened.

"Are you alone?"

"Yes."

Ma'at dropped her arms from her knees and began to cry, although she was still smiling. I sat down next to her and she wrapped her arms around me and pressed her face against my shoulder.

"I'm so glad you're alright." Her hand eventually found my own and she held it before gently kissing the skin. "I didn't think you were going to make it."

I sighed and closed my eyes. "I'm so sorry for abandoning you."

"You didn't abandon me." Ma'at shifted a bit and let go of my hand. "I had a feeling that at least one of us should be able to make it out, so I made a distraction."

I suddenly became sick of talking about what happened, so I pulled Ma'at closer to me and we kissed. Ma'at's left hand tangled itself in my hair while the other plucked my sunglasses off of my nose. I wiped Ma'at's tears from her cheek and deepened the kiss. In less than ten minutes, she was going to be gone and I wanted to be as close to her as possible. For a few minutes, it was just the two of us. Just my wife and me alone in the universe together just the way it felt for many years. Ma'at broke away from the kiss and rested her head against my chest.

"I love you." She whispered, placing her hand on my shoulder and closing her eyes. I let my hands wonder across her back and waist, gently kissing the top of her head.

"I love you too." I wanted to be with her forever, but I cringed and tightened my grip around her when I heard the door open. _No not now. Just give me five more minutes with her_,

I placed my sunglasses back on and looked over my shoulder and some people were standing in the doorway, all wearing surgical masks. I let go of Ma'at and helped her to her feet.

"It's going to be okay." I whispered partially to Ma'at, but mostly to myself. She nodded and held my hand.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me." She smiled. The same smile she gave when our marriage was announced, the same smile she gave when our first child was born, the same smile she gave when we found each other in the mortal world after years of separation; it took everything in me to stop myself from breaking down right there.

And just like that, Ma'at was swallowed up by the people in the doorway, never to be seen again. No one bothered to speak to me when I entered the lobby. Although it was obvious to everyone that something was wrong, they knew better than to ask me what it was. David and Harrison drove me back home and the ride back was even more silent and awkward than the first one. The radio was on to the same classical station as before, but to me it just sounded like static. I felt sick to my stomach, my vision was blurred and my headache from earlier was still stronger than ever. I could have helped her escape. I had my wand on me, we were alone, and I could have teleported us out of there. But once again, my cowardice caught up to me and I couldn't do it.

They pulled up to my apartment and I left the car without uttering a word. I trudged up the stairs and opened the unlocked door. For the first time since I moved in, I turned on the lights. I took off my sunglasses, replaced them with my regular glasses and checked my Star Trek watch; 3:20. I stood there in silence and I was tempted to run back to the building that took my wife and turn myself in. They would drag me away to one of the rooms, stick a needle in my neck and a mask over my mouth and nose to take away the pain. My skin would come first, peeled away from the fat, muscles and tissues which would come next. Then my organs and bones were stripped away while my blood was being drained out through a thin rubber tube. I felt nauseous and my eyes began to water like I've been cutting open onions all day.

The afternoon was spent lounging on the couch and watching cheesy black and white science fiction movies. I tried to forget about what happened, I wanted to forget, but I couldn't. By the time it reached six o' clock, I finally realized how hungry I was. I turned off the TV and walked towards the kitchen only to find an empty fridge and a plastic bag of soiled groceries rotting on the kitchen counter. Sighing, I grabbed my raincoat from the hook by the door. I didn't like eating out, but I didn't have any other options. Using magic to summon or create food was too risky and it wasn't like I had anything to eat here anyway.

When I opened the door, I couldn't help but to be angry that it was raining again. I mean seriously! I grumbled to myself and locked the door behind me before rubbing my hands together to warm them up then walking down the stairs. I still found it hard to believe that no more than twenty four hours ago, Ma'at and I were coming home in the pouring rain after going leaving the grocery store. Against my better judgment, I continued to dwell on what happened and before I knew it, I decided that I was actually going to turn myself in. I really couldn't see any downsides: some person gets a functioning organ or tissue, and I don't have to live the rest of my life alone and trying to hide from society. It's a win-win situation.

So while I trudged through the rain, I planned how I was going to go about doing this. After eating, I was going to find the building from earlier, march up to the front desk and tell them that I'm a deity and they have the right to cut me up or whatever. Wait, maybe I shouldn't eat before they cut me up; that can be a bit messy. Maybe they keep me in one of those hospital rooms for a while, who knows?

Eventually, I found a small Italian restaurant between an antique store and what might have been the last record/CD store in existence. There were some tables and chairs set outside, but hardly anyone was sitting there due to the weather. I walked up the small cobblestone path and past the shrubberies to get to the front door of the restaurant. The inside was very warm and comforting. Quiet piano music played in the background, the walls were decorated with wallflowers or black and white photos of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and the warm air smelled like freshly baked garlic bread and thick tomato sauce. One of the servers tried to offer me one of the tables, but I specifically asked for a table that was outside. The server looked at me like I was nuts which, to be fair, I probably was.

So while the few families and couples eating at the restaurant sat inside, I sat outside in the pouring rain, squinting through my sunglasses to read the cursive writing on the waterproof menu. I still don't know why I chose to eat in such bitter environments, but I somehow knew that I didn't feel like eating in such a comforting area surrounded by people; I just wanted to be alone.

Actually, to my surprise, there was one other person sitting outside. Even though he sat at the table right across from mine, I couldn't get a very good look at him, much less figure out why he was outside in the rain. In fact, he looked like the last person I would expect to eat alone in the rain on a Thursday night. From what I could gather, he obviously came from a lot of money. His grey suit was tailored perfectly and adorned with an indigo silk (or at least it looked like silk) tie. I couldn't see his face due to the matching fedora that covered most of his features, but he looked like he came from some Mediterranean or Middle Eastern country.

I tapped my fingers against the menu after I ordered my drink and he pulled a lighter and a box of cigarettes from his coat pockets; I suddenly knew why he was sitting outside. He cupped his hand over the flame as he attempted to light his cigarette and one of the servers poured him a tall glass of red wine. I don't like judging people unfairly before I get to know them, but somehow I already knew that I didn't like this guy. It was unfair, but I felt angry and bitter towards him. Who did he think he was, sitting outside in the rain in a fancy suit, sipping wine and smoking? Why? This man is nothing like me, at least I have an excuse to sit outside in the pouring rain, and this man probably has six mansions he could be eating at.

I guess he noticed my staring and he turned towards me.

"Is the smoke bothering you?" His accent sounded either like an Italian accent, or someone trying to do an Italian accent. I shook my head and he grinned, his teeth were probably bright enough to blind someone. I turned away and tried my best to ignore him, tried my best to convince myself that I was the only one here. It's not like it really mattered anyway; in less than two hours I was going to donate myself. My food eventually came; some pasta dish that I couldn't really identify, I just ordered something at random. I didn't bother to cover my food; I just allowed the rain to soak it.

The man sitting across from me put out his cigarette and got up from the table, pushing his chair in. I expected him to leave or move inside, but instead he moved to the chair right across from mine, his hand still holding his wine glass.

"So I couldn't help but to notice that you're also out in the rain." He took a long sip of his wine before continuing. "And I wanted to know why. So do you like rain just as much as I do?"

I grumbled a bit and tried to ignore him. Instead of answering him, I continued to shovel forkfuls of pasta into my mouth. Unfortunately, the man seriously looked like he wanted a conversation.

"Name's Ezio Ambrosi." He held out his hand and I shook it halfheartedly.

"Eldrick Travers."

"Well it's nice to meet you, Mr. Travers." Ezio grinned again and I went back to my food. _He's not there, Thoth. He's not there._

Suddenly, Ezio reached into his jacket pocket and I tensed up. What was he grabbing? Was he going to offer me a cigarette? I don't even smoke! What if he's reaching for a weapon? Just before I was going to grab my wand from my coat pocket, Ezio retrieved a box containing a deck of plastic-coated playing cards.

"'You gamble?" He took the cards out of the box and began to shuffle them. I didn't know how to react. What are you supposed to do when a slightly wasted Italian man comes over to your table and tries to gamble with you?

"I-I'm not very good." I tried to back away, but Ezio began to deal cards to me anyway.

"Don't worry. I'll go easy on you. How about a nice game of gin? You know how to play?" Once we both had ten cards, he took another one from the deck and placed it face-up on the table and placed the rest of the deck face-down right next to it.

"Yeah, but it's been a while."

"Okay, this should be fun then."

I looked at the card left face-up on the table; an 8 of clubs. After that I looked at my deck and was a little disappointed to see that I didn't have any other 8 cards or clubs. I decided to take a card from the stock pile instead and was relieved that I got a 4 of spades; all I need is a 6 if spades to get a run. Maybe this is what I needed; just a simple, friendly game of cards. I never really liked card games, especially most of them that rely on chance, but it was helping me relax. I didn't trust Ezio one bit, but he was awfully good at playing cards and it provided me with a nice challenge.

Gin Rummy doesn't usually take a long time, so fifteen minutes later I found myself as the winner. Ezio placed the cards back into the box and continued to smile.

"Good game, Travers. I find it hard to believe that you haven't played in a while."

I shrugged and returned to my pasta, expecting Ezio to go back to his table, but he did no such thing. Instead, he stayed put, leaning closer to me with his hands pressed firmly against the table.

"You know, Eldrick. There's only one other man who could beat me at card games." He gave me a sleepy smile and leaned back against his chair. "We were old friends, but sadly I don't see him anymore."

_I don't care_.

"I wonder how he's doing now." His voice trailed off and he turned away to face the restaurant, before turning back towards me. "Hey, why are you wearing those sunglasses? It must be impossible for you to see."

I ran a finger over the top of my glasses. "I just have very sensitive eyes."

Even from under his fedora, I could just tell by his face that Ezio did not believe a word I was saying. But honestly, what was the point? I was going to turn myself in anyway, so what was the risk of revealing to him what I actually was? Taking a deep breath, I took the sunglasses off of my nose and for the first time in years, someone besides me actually saw what my eyes looked like.

Ezio looked puzzled for a moment, but then that same grin broke free on his face and it was my turn to be confused.

"Thoth? Is that really you?"

My eyes widened and I placed my regular glasses back on my nose. _Did he just say…?_

"What?" Ezio spread his arms. "After all of these years you don't recognize me?

"I'm sorry; I don't remember knowing anyone named 'Ezio'."

Ezio laughed a bit and drank some more of his wine.

"It's me, Khonsu! You're not the only one who can use a false name, you know?"

My jaw dropped open a bit. _Khonsu? But what was he doing here? And when did he start smoking?_

"Anyway." Khonsu adjusted his rain-soaked fedora. "I know I may not be the best people-person."

"You really aren't."

Khonsu ignored what I said and continued. "But I can tell when something's wrong with my friend. So what is it, Thoth? Did your time machine plan fail or something?"

I rested my forehead in my hand and sighed. I really didn't want to talk about it, but I knew Khonsu long enough to know that he would continue to pester me until I told him what was going on.

"They found Ma'at."

Khonsu's face fell. "Oh I'm sorry, man." He pushed his wine glass towards me. "Drink?"

I shook my head. "No thank you. I don't really like wine."

Khonsu shrugged. "Suit yourself. I'm sorry about your wife though. So what are you going to do about it?"

I sighed and set my fork down on the plate. "I'm just going to turn myself in."

Khonsu nearly spat his wine out. He tore his fedora off of his head, revealing the black side lock that Egyptian youth used to wear.

"Are you insane? Why would you do something like that?"

"The only reason why I wasn't going to donate myself in the first place was that I had to protect Ma'at and the feather. It's for a good cause so I don't see the problem."

Khonsu raised an eyebrow and placed his fedora back on his head.

"Really? You don't see the problem with signing yourself up to be killed?"

The rain was splattering on my glasses, so I wiped them off with my thumb.

"I'll just reform, Khonsu. And besides, what else can I do here?"

"Do you have the feather?" Khonsu asked, but in a way that indicated that he already knew my answer.

"I…no. No I don't have it."

"See? Now you have a project. We'll get the feather back together, and then you can go on your magical suicide journey."

"Khonsu, I really don't want to." The check came and Khonsu offered to pay, but I did not let him. "I'm going right now anyway."

When I got my credit card back, I was going to get up but Khonsu grabbed my wrist before I could walk away.

"Listen, Thoth. I know I'm not going to be able to talk you out of this, but before you do this how about we go back to my house? We can watch movies, have a few drinks, play a few games; it'll be just like old times. Come on. I know you're emotional about Ma'at and I understand that. But I think she should get some rest before you go through with your decision. And I don't want to lose my best friend."

Khonsu smiled and for the first time, it didn't look like the same smile a snake gives before devouring a mouse. I shook my wrist out of his grasp and sighed.

"Okay, Khonsu. But I'm still going through with this."

Khonsu downed the rest of his wine and wiped his mouth.

"Alright then, let's go." He pushed his chair in and we walked down the cobblestone path and onto the sidewalk. We didn't talk much, in fact, we didn't talk at all other than the occasional comment on how weird the constant raining was.

Eventually we approached a bus stop; the entire street looked deserted. Khonsu sat down on the metal bench of the bus stop and began to examine his nails. I didn't sit down, but I leaned against the bus stop sign and stared off into the distance.

"Does the bus even come this late?" I asked Khonsu who checked the time on his Rolex.

"Of course it does. It shouldn't take too long for it to come."

The bus did arrive about twenty minutes later and we files on, Khonsu paid the bus driver. The bus was completely empty and I was grateful for that. I selected a seat towards the back and Khonsu sat in front of me. The bus took off, the only sounds coming from the rain outside and Khonsu turning towards me to try to create some small talk but ultimately failing. I rested my head against the cold window and stared outside. It was kind of hard to see due to the rain constantly hitting the window, but I was able to see the neon lights zoom past us. I closed my eyes for a while, feeling unusually tired but when I opened them, I was surprised to see a forest outside.

"You live in a forest?"

Khonsu straightened up in his seat and stared out the window and cursed.

"Damn it! We got on the wrong bus!" He rubbed his temples and groaned. I slumped back in my chair, ready for the long journey back home, but then I looked out the window again. From the tops of the evergreen trees I saw a brilliant blue flash. I had no idea what it was, but it filled me with curiosity and before I knew it, I wanted to know what that was.

"Stop the bus."

Both Khonsu and the bus driver looked at me like I was a freak, but the bus came to a slow and steady stop. Once the bus was not moving at all, I got up from my seat and headed down the aisle.

"What are you doing?" Khonsu also got up and chased after me. Before we knew it, we were both outside in the rain again, watching the bus drive off into the distance. Khonsu adjusted his fedora so it was placed more firmly on his head and he glared at me.

"Don't tell me you didn't see that." I pointed in the direction of the flashing light. "There was this flashing light in the forest!"

"Dude. You're insane." He cupped his hand over his eyes so he could see through the rain. "So are you just going to forget about your whole donation thing just because you saw some flashy lights?"

"No! It was really there!" I turned back towards the forest, keeping one hand stretched out towards Khonsu to make sure he wasn't going anywhere. Khonsu sighed, slumping his shoulders.

"Fine. We'll find your magical flashy light, but then we're going back to my house and you are seriously going to pay for leaving me out in the rain like this."

"Deal. Come on, let's go." I grabbed Khonsu's sleeve and dragged him towards the direction of where the light was. The dirt was muddy and my shoes were a mess but I didn't care. I couldn't explain it, but for some reason I felt like I had to know what was causing that light to appear. Maybe it was the constant urge I had to gain more knowledge, maybe I just needed to take my mind off everything just for a moment. Either way we found ourselves in the middle of the forest, panting and blinking through the rain to see clearly.

"Oh my."

I almost didn't hear Khonsu, but the moment I did my attention turned to the smoking ground before us; a giant intricate symbol was carved into the ground in blue light.


	3. A God's Blood

I stepped carefully around the glowing blue surface of the symbol, the ground was smoking slightly around its borders. Khonsu crossed his arms impatiently and kicked a small rock toward the symbol. I cringed, waiting to see what happened but the symbol didn't appear to react to the sudden invasion in any real way.

"Khonsu!" I glared at the moon god and he responded with his typical bemused expression. When Khonsu stepped away from the symbol, I took the opportunity to walk around its intricate patterns, trying to find some meaning behind it. Khonsu shielded his head from the rain and groaned.

"Can we just go home, Thoth? The rain is getting even worse!"

"Just a minute; I'm trying to figure this out."

Khonsu took off his fedora, his ancient Egyptian side-lock fell free once the hat was removed and he examined the garment.

"Thoth, you owe me a new fedora now."

I shushed him and continued to study the pattern. I don't know what possessed me, but without thinking I reached into the pocket of my heavy black raincoat and pulled out my wand. Khonsu noticed my action and he tried to stop me even though neither of us knew exactly what I was planning.

"What are you doing?" Khonsu yelled against the rain, taking a few steps closer to me. Before he could get any closer, I pointed my wand at him.

"Don't take another step." I commanded in my most stern voice. Khonsu froze in his tracks and stared at me condescendingly.

"Did you just cast a spell on me?"

"No. That was just a command." I knelt next to the pattern and traced the tip of my wand across the glowing blue symbol. Almost immediately, the glowing of the pattern became even more intense forcing Khonsu and me to shield our eyes. However, to my disappointment, when I opened my eyes again nothing has changed.

"Huh." Khonsu leaned back against one of the trees and tucked his side-lock back into his fedora. "Well that was anticlimactic. Can we go home now? I recorded some documentaries. They're boring; you'll like them."

"This symbol…it's like a door." I held my wand just a few inches above the pattern, not wanting to touch it again.

"Thoth…it's a squiggle on the ground. A door is a piece of metal or wood or whatever that swings open and allows people to go through it. That _thing_ is _not_ a door."

Once again, I chose to ignore him and tested flicking my wand above the pattern while I tried to think of the right spell to use.

_"__I-ei!"_ No idea why I chose that spell, but I could sense that this symbol was holding something back and for some reason I wanted to release it. As soon as I casted the spell, Khonsu jumped back and looked at me like I was crazy.

"What's wrong with you?!"

Before I could come to my senses and tell Khonsu that I had no idea what happened, there was a blinding flash of light. This time it was even brighter and more intense than the last one and I covered my face with the sleeve of my coat. The moment the light cleared away, I unshielded my eyes to see a figure lying in the center of the now-faded pattern. Khonsu took a series of small steps towards the figure and I followed him.

The figure lying unconscious in the middle of the forest was a young woman with mocha-colored skin and long, straight black hair that was spread out around her like she was laying in a pool of ink. On her head she wore a rather peculiar-looking headdress with green feathers sticking out of the top and, other than her gold and turquoise jewelry, she wore a cream-colored loincloth and a simple cloth that was wrapped around her breasts. I'll admit that she was beautiful, but she wasn't my type.

Khonsu approached the woman, holding a stick in his hand, and began poking her head. She didn't wake up; she didn't even stir. I knelt down next to her and pushed the wet strands of hair out of her face—just in case they were interrupting her breathing. She was clearly alive, but she was just unconscious.

"Well you cast the spell and we got a hot girl. Could you try that again?" Khonsu was still poking her until I told him to stop.

"No, the symbol was just holding her back." I gently shook her arm in an attempt to wake her up, but to no avail. "I think she's either Aztec or Mayan. Probably Aztec, though. And judging by the looks of it, she's still alive but she's just unconscious."

Khonsu examined her, then roughly pressed the side of his head against her chest. I scrambled to my feet.

"What are you doing?!" My shriek could even be heard above the pouring rain. Khonsu just held up his index finger and told me to wait a moment.

"I'm checking for a pulse; she could still be alive."

I slowly sat down and glared at Khonsu.

"I just said she was still alive! And you know you could just check her wrist, right?"

Khonsu paused before moving his head off of her breast and taking her thin wrist in his hand. He pressed his finger against the skin for a few moments and turned to me.

"She's still alive, but she's just unconscious."

_No shit_.

I stood up and ran my fingers through my hair and cleaned the rain drops off of my glasses. So we both know that she's not dead…now what? As a god of wisdom, I was usually prepared for any situation, but I never learned what to do if you find an unconscious girl in the forest. Not only that, but, judging by her clothing and the symbol she popped out of, she was clearly a deity of some kind. If we left her here, she could be found by someone else but if we take her with us, the image of two men dragging an unconscious girl out of a forest will raise suspicion and if we took her to the hospital or something the doctors could find out that all three of us were deities.

Faster than you could say "what the hell are you doing, you weirdo", Khonsu swung the woman over his shoulder and proceeded to walk out of the forest. I immediately began chasing after him.

"What's wrong with you?"

Khonsu just turned towards me and adjusted the woman on his shoulder.

"I'm taking her back to my house and you're coming too. I don't know who she is or where she came from, but all I know is that we can't leave her out here anymore."

I crossed my arms and dug the heel of my shoe into the soft dirt.

"Khonsu, when people look at us they're going to see two guys dragging some woman along in the rain. If that doesn't get the cops after us I don't know what will."

Khonsu shrugged.

"Alright, whatever you say." And with that, he just dropped the woman on the forest floor. Of course I began freaking out and rushed to her side, helping her to her feet.

"What was that?"

"We're leaving her. You said you didn't want people to see us taking her out of the forest, so we're going to leave her in the forest with the squirrels and the bunnies…and the flesh-devouring wolves."

I glared at Khonsu, then looked at the woman I was holding up. Although I hated to admit it, Khonsu was right (for once). We couldn't just leave her here. We should take her back to Khonsu's house and when she wakes up we could ask her where she came from then we could send her back to where she came from and then everything is fine. I moved her left arm so it was around my neck.

"Here, grab her other arm; we can carry her out of here together."

Khonsu grinned and did what he was told and ever so slowly, we began to move her out of the forest until we reached the street.

"So do you know which way to go?" I tried to place more of her arm around my shoulder so I had a better grip on her.

Khonsu blinked the rain out of his eyes and looked to the left.

"Let's go back the same way we came." Without warning me first, he began to move away and I struggled to keep up with him.

Fortunately, there were no passing cars or pedestrians that would have seen us. In fact, it looked like a ghost town. The entire time, she did not wake up. After what had to be twenty minutes, Khonsu turned us towards a parking garage.

"What, is your car here?" I adjusted the woman on my shoulder.

"No, but I'm just tired of carrying this woman. I'm sure they won't mind if a borrow a car."

"You mean _stealing_."

"Whatever you want to call it, there's no way I'm carrying this person any further. She's petite but I think that headdress is weighing her down."

I sighed. Honestly, I was becoming a little tired of carrying her too, but I wouldn't go so far as to steal a car. Khonsu left the woman with me while he browsed through the garage, looking for a car he liked. There were hardly any cars there to begin with, but eventually, he called me over to a small green car that was on the far end of the garage. He reached into his pocket and retrieved a thin, silver wand. After muttering a simple spell, he tapped it against the car door. A few silver hieroglyphics floated out and I could hear a faint clicking sound. I was about to open the back door and place the woman inside, but then I noticed something odd about the car.

"Khonsu…there's no back seat."

Khonsu already got into the driver's seat and was impatiently waiting for me to get in.

"And?"

"Where are we supposed to put her?"

Khonsu tapped his fingers against the steering wheel and looked at me with a rather bored expression.

"Just put her in the trunk; we can deal with this later."

I was about ready to punch him in the face.

"The _trunk_?! You want me to put a girl in the trunk of a car? A _stolen_ car?"

Khonsu just shrugged. "I'll put her in if you won't do it."

I grumbled and moved to the back of the car and opened the trunk. As soon as it was open, I gently placed her in the trunk and positioned her in a way so she wouldn't have too much discomfort. Khonsu stepped out of the car once I was slowly lowering the trunk door, purposely leaving it open slightly.

"We should leave it open a bit." I explained to Khonsu. "She needs to breathe and_"

I was interrupted by Khonsu slamming the trunk door shut and instructing me to get into the passenger's seat.

"We need to get out of here fast. If we don't get out of here soon, _you're_ going in the trunk."

…

Finding an unconscious girl in the forest is one thing. Stealing a car is another. But driving in a stolen car with an unconscious girl you found in the forest lying in the trunk of said stolen car is a totally different thing altogether. At first I wanted to turn myself in because I could no longer protect Ma'at, but now I also wanted to turn myself in because the state of not existing might bring me some peace. At one point, I turned to Khonsu and questioned him.

"You do realize you're absolutely insane, right?"

Khonsu made a sharp U-turn causing me to grip the side of the car to keep myself steady.

"What do you mean?"

"Well let's run down the list, shall we? We're in a stolen car, I'm not sure how sober you are, you're driving like a madman, and we have an unconscious girl in the trunk of our car!"

Khonsu laughed. "Sounds like my normal Saturday night!"

After half an hour of crazy driving and at least six near-death experiences, we eventually pulled up to a rather nice-looking house. Even though it looked really classy, parts of it looked like it was taken directly from a modern art museum. I stepped out of the car and rushed to the back of the car to remove the (hopefully not dead) woman from the trunk.

Khonsu followed me and picked the woman up and I closed the trunk door.

"Let's take her inside. Maybe she'll wake up later."

I nodded and followed Khonsu inside the house. We walked through the elegant living room and headed up the steel staircase. Khonsu shifted the woman on his shoulder and opened his bedroom door. I was just about to neaten the bed sheets so we could lay her down, but Khonsu stopped me.

"Thoth, what are you doing?"

"I'm fixing the bed since you apparently can't make your own bed. We have to put her somewhere."

"That comforter is made from satin and those sheets are made out of silk. We are _not_ putting anything on the bed until they are completely dry and clean!"

_He's impossible_. I placed my hands on my hips and frowned at Khonsu.

"Fine. We'll put her on the couch."

"Those couches were_"

"Fine! Then get some damn towels and put them on the bed!"

Khonsu grumbled and set the woman down on the carpet. A few minutes later, he came back with a few perfectly folded white towels. Huh, maybe he was capable of doing housework. We spread the towels out on the bed and placed the woman on top of them.

"Still not waking up." Khonsu groaned and left me alone in the room with her.

At long last the woman began to squirm slightly. Once I noticed her motions and I leapt to my feet and called for Khonsu who was in the next room watching television.

"Khonsu! She's waking up!"

I heard Khonsu run into the room while the woman forced herself into a sitting position. She rubbed her eyes and smoothed out her long hair. Eventually, she opened her dark eyes and began looking around the room, the confusion and fear quite present on her face.

"Ma'am, we're not trying to hurt you." I tried to reassure her. "We found you passed out in the forest and_"

_"__Titlatoa Nahuatl?" _ Once she began speaking, she didn't seem as scared. Unfortunately, I had absolutely no idea what she was saying.

"What?" Khonsu looked just as confused as I was. He turned to me like he expected me to translate for her.

"Don't look at me; I don't know what she's saying." But it did frustrate me. Even though I was a god of wisdom, I still wasn't fluent in every single language. Like other gods, I could fully understand a language if I'm exposed to it for a certain amount of time and I am able to achieve fluency faster than most gods, but I was still lost with what she was saying.

"Uh…_iwy em hotep_."

She tilted her head to the side and raised an eyebrow at me.

_"__Tlen?"_

"Thoth, if she doesn't know English, most likely she's not going to know ancient Egyptian."

_Should have thought of that._

The woman continued to explore around the room and acting in a rather child-like manner. Even though it was apparent to both of us that there was a strong language barrier between us, that didn't stop her from constantly babbling to herself.

_"__Ken motoka?" _ She asked me at one point. Instead of replying, I just held my hands up and shook my head. She huffed a bit and turned back around. But as ridiculous as it sounded, the more she spoke, the more I was able to understand the language. Even though Khonsu looked as confused as ever, I was finally beginning to understand what she was saying.

_"__Kenin otimo uika?"_

At the sound of me speaking her language, the woman turned around with a wide grin on her face. Khonsu just looked towards me with his eyes wide.

"Oh come on! Not you too!"

_"__Hue kualli!" _ She practically giggled. She sat down next to me on the bed, but her hyperactive actions were replaced with what looked like sickness. She began shaking and her once-glowing skin seemed faded.

_"__¿Estás bien?" _ In my state of panic, I accidently switched to Spanish which I hopped didn't offend her. She lurched forwards and gasped.

_"__Tlacamictilitzli"_ She managed to cough out. I looked at Khonsu who just stared at me blankly.

"Don't look at me; you translate."

I began to panic. I rushed to the woman's side and placed a hand on her quivering shoulder. Her coughing was getting worse and her eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets. Trying to keep my voice as steady as possible, I spoke to her.

"Miss, I'm sorry but I don't know how to translate what you're saying, but if you're a god like us you should be able to understand the English language through exposure. Just calm down and Khonsu and I will try to help you."

The woman's shaking got worse, but she seemed to process what I was saying.

_"Tl_...b-blood..." she stammered out and looked up at me with wide eyes. "I...need...blood..."

I felt my mouth go dry an I took a step back. She was asking us for a human sacrifice.

Khonsu also seemed to understand what she meant, but he didn't seem as concerned.

"Alright, the girl needs some blood." he swiped his hands against each other. "I'm sure we can provide some."

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"You know that a god's blood is different from that of a mortal's. I'm not sure if that would work."

Without saying a word, Khonsu grabbed my wrist roughly and retrieved a simple silver blade from his coat pocket.

"K-K...wha..." in my state of shock I found I couldn't form complex words. I squeezed my eyes shut and turned my face away. The blade dipped down into my skin along my forearm and I bit my lower lip trying to keep myself from saying anything.

I felt the blood flow from the freshly opened vein. I didn't know where it was falling. I hoped my blood got on Khonsu's spotless white carpet.

Khonsu began rubbing my arm, trying to force the blood out. The blood of a god is strong. My blood could have gone to someone who needed it. The blood would drain out of a hole cut in my neck and flow into a tube. An ounce of the blood could cure someone of their sickle cell anemia, their hemophilia, any blood-born disease.

It would take my entire blood supply to cure a god.

I began to grow light headed, my forehead beading with a cold sweat. I wanted to run away, curl up and fall asleep, vomit, and scream all in one, but somehow I couldn't find the energy to do any of them. My arm felt sticky and wet from the blood constantly being drained from it.

How much time did I have?

I began counting. First by quickly only to slow down when I felt my hands and feet grow numb.

No one said anything, but it's not like I would have noticed. My face was pressed against Khonsu's carpet which felt like a soft fluffy cloud against my cheek. I didn't even notice that I was holding the woman's hand, I didn't even care that my skin was cold and stiff like a corpse's. Though my vision blurred, her skin did look healthier.

Well, at least there was that.

By this point I wasn't thinking in terms of numbers, but in what parts of my body could I still move. I lost the ability to wiggle my toes, open my eyes, or lift my arms up.

Khonsu dropped my arm and it flopped uselessly to my side. My eye was half open and staring blankly at th ceiling, the stinging sensation in my arm sill very present.

Through my blurred vision, I saw the woman stand above me, a playful smile on her face.

"You're a god!"

Funny, I sure didn't feel like one.


End file.
